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One of the fun activities to do in the outdoors is identifying different species of flora and fauna. It’s about more than knowing names; the process of identification brings us closer to the world around us and tells us what’s going in that habitat. The same can be said for knowing the different species of cloud. Being able to recognise the different types of clouds and what they’re doing tells us what’s happening with the weather, and when our risk is increasing or decreasing. This is an especially important skill for those who spend a lot of time in the mountains. We talked to Sarvesh Garimella, the chief scientist and COO at MyRadar, a Suunto partner, about the different varieties of clouds and what we should look out for when we’re planning to head into the great outdoors. A keen hiker since his field research days at university, Sarvesh has a Phd on ice clouds in the atmosphere. Who better to ask then? Here are Savesh’s 10 tips.   Click to find out more about MyRadar’s detailed local weather forecasts!   Download MyRadar Wear OS app here. Respect the mountain At a really high level, clouds are one type of information your surroundings are giving you. We can also look at recent weather and trail reports about an area. And one of the most important recommendations that has been echoed to me again and again is to know your limits and respect the mountain. There could be hazards you are prepared for and others you aren't prepared for. No climb or trip is worth your life. Be smart and live to climb another day. The trend is your friend In forecasting we like to say this phrase a lot: "the trend is your friend." If you’re just looking at what the barometer is saying in one moment that’s less informative than observing what the trend is. Or if you’re looking at a model of rain output, the model that came out an hour ago might not show as much output as the model that came out just now does. If you look at the next model an hour later it might be showing more rain. Each successive model is showing more and more rain or whatever phenomena. Whether it be simple observation of the environment or more sophisticated analysis of weather models, the trend is your friend. Just because you have a snapshot of what’s going on now that doesn’t mean you have a complete idea of what it could turn into, especially in a complex environment.   Sarvesh regularly hikes in the Pacific Northwest. Know your cloud The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has an International Cloud Atlas that consists of 10 genus of clouds within which there are many species of cloud. Within the species of clouds there are lots of different varieties. The WMO website has flow charts and guidance to help you identify what specific types of clouds you are looking at. The big three For most people I say there are only three types of clouds to think about. Those are the cirrus clouds, which are the wispy ice clouds that tend to be higher in the atmosphere. Most of the clouds you see that are puffy and popcorn-like are cumulus clouds, and those tend to be scattered and independent. Then you have stratus clouds, the decks of extensive, and low to medium altitude clouds. These are the low clouds that stretch out as far as you see that produce gentle spitting rain. There is a qualifier for various types of clouds: whenever you hear the word nimbus it refers to rain. Cumulonimbus clouds, for example, can turn into a thunder head. So the big three are: cirrus, cumulus, and stratus clouds. 1. Cirrus clouds 2. Cumulus clouds 3. Stratus cloud Watch the low clouds In addition to those three main types of clouds you can also classify clouds by their altitude. Low, medium and high clouds. It’s good to identify what could be happening in the low cloud decks versus the middle or high cloud decks. If you see there are a few wispy cirrus clouds in the morning, and then you see a few more in the afternoon, that could suggest there might be more moisture entering into the region, but it might not pose an immediate risk. But if your low cloud decks seem sketchy and visibility is poor you might like to wait another hour or two for the sun to come up to see if it burns off the fog. I’ve been on climbs where we’ve definitely had risk issues with the low or medium cloud deck, especially on Mt Rainier. Not all clouds are bad When I see a stratus deck that is low and consistent, with spitting rain, that’s a good sign for me because it means it’s not the nicest from a hiking standpoint, which means there is going to be less people out on the trail. Just because you see rain it doesn’t mean you are going to have a bad time. Beware of lenticular clouds Here's one particular example especially relevant for mountain climbing; a lenticular cloud. These are the lens shaped clouds that sit on top of mountains. They tend to form when you have moist air moving across the landscape, which gets kicked upwards by the mountain itself. They are pretty to look at, but what you have to keep in mind, especially on the leeward side of the mountain, is it means you get lots of vortex shedding from wind coming over the mountain. Pilots know to stay away from lenticular clouds because the turbulence there can be really bad. Wind risk can be more significant than any other type of hazard depending on the mountain you are on. If you see a lenticular cloud it suggests that there might be windier conditions as you get closer to the summit.   Watch for vertical extent The thinner, wispy clouds higher up are less of an issue to look out for than low clouds. The stratus decks can produce steady, low intensity rain, but from a hazard standpoint they aren’t particularly dangerous. If you have instability in the atmosphere or the chance for developing thunderstorms, that is the sort of hazard you want to look out for. If you notice the cloud cover is significantly higher than it was first thing in the morning or the vertical extent of the clouds is increasing then its ability to start producing rain also increases. Be aware of cooling If you feel the air getting cool and if you can see the pressure is dropping this might be because a weather cell is moving towards your area. The up and down draughts and the rain and the cooling effects of the rain can change the weather pretty dramatically. That can be a sign of quickly changing weather. This is one of the reasons why My Radar has the precipitation nowcasts; they warn you when it sees a cell on a radar that you might not necessarily be able to pay attention to. Remember, the trend is your friend. Read trail reports The trail reports put out by the fire service, the AllTrails App and such are definitely important as well. Many of the hazards are only present if the trail is in a certain condition. If you have lots of wind that might be okay if you have lots of traction. But if you have ice on the ground and also gusting winds that’s another issue.   Add MyRadar Wear OS app on your Suunto 7 to get detailed local weather forecasts on your wrist.  Lead image: ©Philipp Reiter Other images by Marc Thunis on Unsplash  

Hill repeats are an essential part of an outdoor athlete’s workout repertoire. To make the hard work pay off, pacing is key. The new Climb SuuntoPlus™ feature does just that: it gives you real-time insights on your effort and motivates you to keep going. The same goes for longer hikes, too: once you learn what kind of ascent speeds are sustainable for you, you can use this feature to pace your way up accordingly. To use SuuntoPlus™ features on the Suunto 9 or Suunto 5, activate them before starting an activity: Select your preferred activity type and – before hitting start – go down to the options menu and select your preferred SuuntoPlus feature, like Climb. The SuuntoPlus feature you chose, will be added and available as an extra screen during the session.   © Philipp Reiter Top left: Ascent and climb counter After you have activated SuuntoPlus Climb your watch will automatically detect the uphills and also create laps of them. The first climb is triggered after ascending for 10 meters. During the climb you will see the ascent you have covered during that particular uphill on the top left on your screen. Once the climb ends, the ascent number will switch to the total number of climbs you have covered. When the next climb starts, you will again start to see the vertical meters for that individual climb. Top right: Grade % On the top right you have the grade of your uphill in percentages. The same goes for the downhill, too. The arrow shows the direction of the hill. The grade is based on your progress during your recent efforts. Bottom left for running: Normalized Graded Pace During trail running and running your running speed is shown as Normalized graded pace (NGP). Normalized graded pace is the adjusted pace, that reflects the changes in grade and intensity that contribute to the physiological cost of running on varied terrain. Bottom left: Total vertical meters For activity types other than running this view shows the total vertical meters covered during the activity. Bottom right: Vertical speed Vertical speed is a great way to pace an effort in an uphill lap. This also helps you estimate how long the climb will take for you – if you know the total ascent. The vertical speed is shown as meters per hour.    Note: SuuntoPlus Climb works best with watches that have a barometric sensor, like Suunto 9. Products without a barometer rely on GPS based altitude. This will require longer climbs as small changes in elevation may not be identified. Lead image: © Philipp Reiter Read more about hill repeats 7 tips to accelerating your uphill speed Improve your running with high intensity hill repeats  

An essential part of outdoor adventure is planning. The better you are at it, the smoother, safer and more relaxed your trips. Of course, there are many aspects to planning, from understanding the topography and distances, through to knowing your group and managing rest breaks. However, knowing your route is key. When that’s sorted everything else is more likely to flow. Whether you want to start from scratch, use an existing route or something in between, here are six different ways to create a route for your Suunto watch to guide your next adventure. Suunto app’s route planning capabilities are very versatile. Depending on the situation you can use the most suitable option – even on the go as all these work on your mobile. Planning a route from scratch is just one of the many route planning options on Suunto app.   Plan a route from scratch Just opening the map and starting to draw your own route is probably the first route planning method that comes to people’s minds. Just mark the starting point and key points along the way to draw the desired route to your destination. Tip: To help the route planning process you can choose whether you want to follow “any road or path”, “all road types”, “all road types avoiding hills”, “paved roads” or “free drawing”. Using the most suitable option will make planning more efficient.   Plan using heatmaps Suunto Heatmaps show the tracks frequently used by Suunto community all over the globe, based on millions of activities. Turn the heatmaps on and choose the desired activity type. Suunto heatmaps are sport specific. This allows you to differentiate between activities, for example, running and trail running. Heatmaps can be on while planning routes. This enables you to see where the popular trails are. Tip: Suunto app also has “My Tracks”, a new feature showing where you have been during the last week, month or a year. Compare your own tracks with the general heat to spot areas and trails you haven’t yet been to. Suunto app recommends popular routes for your location.   Use popular routes on Suunto app When browsing Suunto app’s map view, you can swipe up a menu of route recommendations: the app automatically generates popular routes for the location you have selected. Simply select an activity type, see what others have been doing and select one you like. Tip: If you want to see more route options, zoom out or change the location for your search and tap ‘Search here’.   Use an existing activity Would you like to do that awesome run from last year again? Or has your friend been to an interesting trail? You can use existing activities to create routes. All you need to do is tap the three dots on top right of the activity screen and select ‘Save route’. The route then opens in Suunto app’s route planner so you can name the route and sync it to your Suunto watch. Tip: If you want to find your old activities more easily,, add a trail name, location etc in the description field. You can then search for them in your Diary on Suunto app and create routes for navigation. You can sync routes to Suunto app from Suunto compatible route services, like Wikiloc, and get access to their planning tools and route libraries.   Sync from a partner service Suunto app is compatible with several route planning services, like komoot, Fatmap, Wikiloc, Twonav Land, Openrunner and2bulu (in China). Connect your Suunto app account with the partner service to get routes created there to be synced with your Suunto app – and your watch. You can find thousands and thousands of routes in the partner services and also use their tools, like route libraries, desktop apps and big screen solutions. (Learn more about Suunto's partners.) Tip: Some of our route service partners are included in Suunto Value Pack. Learn more about it here.    Import a GPX file Have you spotted an interesting route in the media or perhaps a race organizer has offered you the race route as a GPX file? To get that route on your watch, save it in a location you can access on your phone and open it using Suunto app. (Learn how to import a GPX file on Suunto app for iOS or Android.) Tip: You can also share or save your own routes as GPX files using Suunto app: Go to the list of your routes and click the sharing button. Then select whether you want to share the route or save the GPX file.

Summer holidays are coming to a close in the northern hemisphere and we’re returning to work. It takes time to refocus and build momentum. It’s completely understandable to feel challenged by all the pressures of maintaining a job, business, family, plus staying fit and eating well. Technology can’t magic the pressure away, but it can help you stay on top of things, save you time and even serve as support to build positive habits. The Suunto 7 smartwatch is powered with Wear OS by Google, providing a buffet of apps designed to help you manage everyday life. We consulted our inhouse technology geeks about which apps they find the most helpful and they came up with nine.     Spotify Spotify's Wear OS app enables you to listen to music on your Suunto 7 without your phone – and even when offline. Connect your Bluetooth headphones with your watch and download the tracks that you want to take with you! Learn more about listening to music on the go with a Suunto 7 and Spotify here. And once you have it, check out Suunto’s workout playlists on Spotify. Wrist Camera Say goodbye to awkward selfies that strain your neck as you try to get you and your two friends all in the frame. This app lets you control and preview your phone camera remotely from your smartwatch. This simple app is easy to use. Find it in Google Play here. Todoist Stay on top of all the tasks you need to complete with the Todoist app. You can add, check, and complete tasks with your watch. You can also track your progress on meeting daily and weekly goals. Find it in Google Play here. Google Keep This handy note-taking service allows you to capture ideas, notes or tasks whenever they pop into your mind. You can dictate your thoughts and Keep will transcribe them. You can create reminders and tasks, and share them with others. Click here to get it. Bring! No more shopping lists on the back of crumpled receipts! Your shopping just got easier with this app which allows you to create and share shopping lists with your family or friends from multiple devices, including by simply speaking into your smartwatch! Get it here. Wear Casts This app allows you to listen to your favorite podcasts offline. When you head out for a run, you can tune in without having to take your phone with you. Get it here. If you prefer audiobooks over podcasts, check out NavBooks. This app places your library on your wrist – also for offline listening. Find my phone This handy feature is part of the Wear OS system and means you won’t ever again lose your phone down the back of the couch and think your life is over. Unless you can’t find your watch, too, in which case you are entitled to panic! All you need to do is tap a button on your watch face to make your phone ring. Breathe. Google Assistant Wouldn’t be nice if we could all have a personal assistant? Well, Google Assistant more than suffices. Schedule events and reminders in your calendar, create shopping lists, check the weather – all by simply speaking to your watch. Citymapper Get live subway, bus and train times, and find the best route to get where you need to go with step-by-step instructions – all via your watch. Get it here. Healthy Recipes Never ever get cookie dough on your phone again! This handy app allows you to follow recipes from your watch face, with the phone safely placed away from the chaos.   Suunto 7 support: Here you'll find user guides, how to videos and more   Read more articles Welcome to the season of the FKT Start your path to mountain navigation mastery here The benefits of training to music and making your best playlist

Becoming confident at navigating with a map in the mountains doesn’t happen overnight. You can’t read a book and develop the skills. They need practice in the field, in a variety of terrain and conditions. Then the theory becomes grounded in experience. “Good navigation skills are a big booster for self-confidence,” says Suunto’s resident navigation pro, Terho Lahtinen. “When you know you’ll find your way back, it gives you the freedom to explore new surroundings without any fear of getting lost. That is pretty nice whenever you come to a new place.”   Photo by Jan-Niclas Aberle on Unsplash Expand your horizons This is the fifth and final article in our series on mountain navigation. In this one, we review the previous four articles, touch on the key takeaways from each of them, and bring them all together in one place so they are easy to review. It’s worth going through each of them a couple of times so it all sinks in. “Wayfinding and map reading are absolutely useful for anyone regardless of age,” Terho says. “It’s a great way to develop three-dimensional thinking, foster curiosity, and to encourage the spirit of exploration!” Learn the basics In the first article, Terho explains how to get started. Developing good location awareness and topographical map reading ability go hand in hand. Each supports the other. You really need to cement these skills before leading trips into big, unfamiliar mountain terrain. To become a confident wayfinder you need to fall in love with topo maps. Buy maps that illustrate outdoor recreation areas you know well and study them carefully. Investigate how land formations are depicted. Get a feeling for contour lines and how they communicate inclination. Take your map outdoors and compare what it tells you with the landscape you see around you. Doing this over time helps to develop location awareness. “Map reading skills are the number one thing to learn,” Terho says. “Maps tell us how the world around us looks. If you know how to read one and correlate the information with the terrain, you can get wherever you want.” Read how to find your way in the mountains.   Photo by Fabrizio Conti on Unsplash Planning a trip To plan a safe and challenging trip in the backcountry you need to have developed your map reading skills, location awareness and general outdoor experience. Otherwise your planning won’t be based on anything solid. Good planning is important to ensure your trip is a success. This is why in the second article Terho recommends people new to map reading first plan a trip somewhere familiar. This will allow you to relax and to compare what you have seen before with what you see on the map. It makes recognition easier. Once you have selected a destination, study the terrain features on the map. Look at potential start and end points, possible points of interest, handrails, the contour lines, and consider what is realistic for your group. Review this second article above for pacing information and factoring in break times.  Read 7 tips to plan a route in the mountains. Staying on track The planning is done, and now you have parked your car at the roadend and are heading out into the mountains. This third article is about how to stay on track when you’re out there. Two things are particularly important now. Firstly, keep a schedule outlining what landmark or terrain feature you will reach and when, and monitor your travel time. Secondly, use handrails and landmarks to guide you. Look at your map before you start each leg of your trip and try to memorize the upcoming terrain features. Read our 9 tips for staying on track in the mountains. Challenging conditions The best laid plans can go awry. And that’s partly what makes us love adventure, right? If it was always easy and straightforward it would also be boring. Adversity helps us to find our inner strength. This is why we have always been drawn to adventure. In this fourth article, we look at how to handle challenging conditions, specifically poor visibility. This is when following handrails, being flexible with your plan, and having supplementary technology, like a GPS device, makes all the difference. Read 9 rules to follow when your trip in the mountain goes pear shape. Practice makes perfect As with any skills, practice makes perfect. “Reaching a master level is often a process of years,” Terho says. “But if you study maps regularly at home and every now and then spend a few hours practicing in the outdoors, you will make good progress in months. It’s something you try out once a year, you’ll start from scratch every time.”     Lead images: Photo by Tim Tiedemann on Unsplash Photo by Toomas Tartes on Unsplash Read more articles How to find your way in the mountains 7 tips to plan a route in the mountains A veteran navigator's 9 tips for staying on track in the mountains 9 rules to follow when your trip in the mountains goes pear-shaped

Spend enough time in the mountains and you learn to expect the unexpected. You might start out in delightfully warm weather and then, surprise, a storm arrives and covers the landscape in snow. Didn’t see that coming!  In the second article in this series on wayfinding, we talked about how to plan a route in the mountains. In the third article, we explained how to stay on track when you’re out on a trip. In this article we look at how to react when conditions get difficult. Thing is, even the best laid plans can and probably will go awry. It’s important to understand your plan is just a plan. The world around you marches to its own drumbeat.   Photo by Tim Tiedemann on Unsplash   3 general rules   Be responsive Our resident navigator-in-chief Terho Lahtinen advises to expect the unexpected. You don’t want to get too vigilant and uptight, however, because then nothing is much fun. Just keep it in the back of your mind that things can change, and to be responsive when they do. Terho says to cultivate this quality it’s good to go through different scenarios in advance of the trip and to have plans for each of them. “In the mountains, you should always have a plan B for surprises: a shorter route, extra clothing, first aid kit, backup navigation device, and so on,” he says. “Having the right equipment and skills to use them properly is the best preparation.” Stay calm Goes without saying, but when things take a turn for the unexpected it’s important not to panic. Panic impairs our decision making ability, which can be a big deal in the backcountry. Instead, do something to help you relax. “When you encounter an unwanted situation, make a stop, have a snack, find shelter if possible and put on an extra layer to keep warm,” Terho says. “It’s more important to make the right decision rather than a quick one that turns out wrong.” Consider all options Once you’ve settled down, consider all your options. Talk with your group and see how everyone is feeling. What options suit the skill level and comfort zone of your group? “Sometimes the conditions are just not on your side and the only reasonable plan B is to postpone the trip,” Terho says. “This can be a very hard decision if it’s a long-awaited adventure, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.” This is when a Suunto 9 comes in handy. The watch’s Find Back function guides you directly back to your starting point via a breadcrumb trail on the watch face. You can also store Points of Interest on the go and navigate back to them.   Photo by asoggetti on Unsplash   Specific rules for low visibility One typical thing that can catch people out in the mountains is poor visibility, whether caused by fog, rain, snow or low light. You have to pay extra attention in any of these conditions, and really consider what options are the best for you and the group. Easy does it In low visibility always choose the easiest route to follow. Stay on a marked trail instead of taking an off track shortcut. “If there are no trails, use obvious terrain features as checkpoints that you are sure to recognize,” Terho says. Know your location One of the ways people get into trouble in the mountains is by pushing on hastily without being sure about their location. In low visibility, take the time to regularly check in with your map. “If you lose your location on the map, it is much more difficult to find it again if you can’t see your surroundings,” Terho says. “In practice, you will need to pay attention to all details in the terrain that you can identify on the map, and also work through the terrain features that you expect to see when moving on.” Keep track of time Monitoring your travel time is essential to estimate the distance you have traveled. This is important because in low visibility it will help you estimate where you likely are on the map. “It’s worth noting that in poor visibility we tend to overestimate the distance traveled and the pace often gets slower when visibility drops,” Terho says. “When trying to spot yourself on the map, remembering this limits the radius of where to look on the map.”   A stream can act as a handrail to lead you to the next terrain feature. Photo by Hamed Alayoub on Unsplash Follow handrails We talked about using handrails as navigation aids in the previous article in this series. They can be particularly useful in low visibility, even as reassurance. “A good handrail is a clear terrain feature that you can easily follow, such as a creek, river, hillside, a fence or the treeline,” Terho explains. “Sometimes you can also use the elevation of the handrail as an additional navigation aid.” Use all your tools When you’re way out in the backcountry far from help or above the treeline and exposed to the elements, time is of the essence. Cold is the enemy. Use all your tools to help you stay on track and safe. Your compass, watch, altimeter, GPS device – each one can help you. “Use your compass to check the trail you’re on goes in the right direction,” Terho says. “Check the time every now and then; knowing your average pace and the time in the last known location helps to estimate how far you could have traveled. An altimeter is also a practical tool. For instance, working out your location on a trail that goes up or down a slope can be done with an altitude reading. As a backup, it’s also good to have a GPS like a Suunto 9 watch with the most important waypoints and the planned route stored.” Wait it out Sometimes the best thing you can do is to find shelter asap. Especially in cold conditions, staying warm is the priority. Hypothermia, when your body loses heat faster than it can produce it, can set in within minutes to hours, depending on the temperature. “There are times when the best option is to pitch camp, sleep over and evaluate the options again next morning,” Terho says.   Lead image: Photo by Philipp Reiter   Read more articles How to find your way in the mountains 7 tips to plan a route in the mountains A veteran navigator's 9 tips to stay on track in the mountains